


Never-ending Epikegster

by Babbler1202



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, College, Developing Relationship, Drinking, Groundhog Day, Hockey, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Polyamory, Slow Build, Threesome - M/M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 18:27:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10224347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babbler1202/pseuds/Babbler1202
Summary: Bitty didn't know how one day could go so wrong. It was supposed to be a fun day but now Nursey has a black eye, Bitty's pie is burned, He has somehow developed feelings for Jack, and he overheard Kent Parson saying the WORST things to Jack. Bitty is sure he could have prevented some of this. Maybe? He just wishes he had a do-over for this awful day.ORThe OMG Check Please/groundhog day AU that I really wanted ;)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. This is my first time writing a fan fic. In fact, this is my first time writing anything. It seems to have taken on a life of it's own. Be gentle with me.

Bitty sat at his desk chair on a Thursday evening facing his laptop camera, recording his vlog. He had been sitting for 5 minutes trying to figure out what to say, feeling overwhelmed. Without being aware of what he was doing, his face dropped into his hands. Muffled by his hands, you could still hear the despair in his voice when he said “Never fall for a straight boy.”

Day one

Bitty was dead asleep at 4:00 am Friday morning when his phone alarm went off with  
the slow strains of the beginning of Beyonce’s Dangerously in Love. He shut it down and laid there for a few minutes before he rolled out of bed, thinking it had been a while since he’d heard that one. His alarm was set to play a random Beyonce song every time it went off but the app tended towards newer songs. He didn’t bother with a shower and had just slid into his Under Armour, t-shirt and some loose shorts when a quiet knock sounded at his door. Still humming to the song now in his head, Bitty grabbed his tennis shoes in one hand and snatched up his phone and his room key in his other hand as he fumbled open his bedroom door to reveal Jack Zimmerman, heir to the Zimmerman hockey empire, looking sleep rumpled and soft. His black hair flopping gently onto his forehead above the clearest blue eyes Bitty had ever seen.

“Hey Jack.” Bitty whispered, trying not to wake the haus “Let me just put my shoes on.” 

“Bittle, I’m here every morning at the same time. You think you’d be ready.” Jack responded in a similar whisper, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes which took the sting out of the chirp.

He turned and started walking down the stairs expecting Bitty to follow. Bitty hustled to stuff his socked feet into his shoes without untying them, something his Mama always said was lazy. He hated disappointing his Mama. She was like his best friend. But what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. He quickly followed Jack down the stairs, through the messy living room, cluttered with laundry, schoolbooks, hockey equipment, dirty dishes and abandoned backpacks. Oh lord, Bitty thought, this is all going to have to be cleaned up before tonight. He never understood how it got so bad so quickly. And he would not be these boys’ maid. Bitty grabbed his jacket and scarf off the rack as Jack did the same and they walked out the front door, locked it behind them and started across campus towards Faber. The walk was quiet in the early dawn light, neither of them being awake enough at this hour to carry on a conversation. The hockey arena would be abandoned at this time of day, which is why Jack and he were using it every morning to get in extra checking practice. At least, those mornings when they didn’t have team practice. Bitty wasn’t sure he saw the point anymore. Last year he’d been terrified of being checked and Jack had gotten him out of his shell, gotten him to trust himself on the ice and because of that he’d let himself get checked so hard he’d ended up with a concussion that meant he couldn’t play all summer.

Now back at school and nearing the end of the fall semester, he hadn’t fallen into his old habits of curling up into a ball in the middle of the ice whenever he suspected he was about to take a hit but he wasn’t exactly comfortable out there either. He avoided physical contact on the ice, sometimes missing great opportunities. Jack seemed determined to break him of it but Bitty wasn’t very hopeful. 

Remembering how it had felt those 15 seconds he had been airborne before he hit the ice sent him into a cold sweat. He wasn’t sure how he’d ever get used to taking a check. It was terrifying when he was completely unable to control his own body and where it ended up. 

Reaching the arena, Bitty quickly suited up into his pads and him and Jack skated out to the boards and started running drills. Bitty was supposed to play around with the puck, skating towards the goal and Jack would wait until Bitty was distracted and come at him from the side, slamming him against the glass. Jack tried this a few times but Bitty was too aware of what Jack was doing and was never caught off guard. 

“Bittle,” Jack called out “I know you’re fast but you need to quit being so slippery. The point here is for you to take a hit so that you’ll get used to it. Quit skating out of the way and just let me catch you.”

“I’ll try.” Bitty responded, skating towards the edge of the ice, thinking how he wanted Jack to catch him, but he didn’t mean it the same way. He really just wanted Jack to push him up against the glass and kiss him until he forgot all about checking, and hockey and school and everything. To just wrap him up in his presence. Jack was so tall and broad, Bitty knew he would feel like nothing existed except Jack if he could ever get the boy’s arms around him... Wishful thinking never got anyone anywhere though.

This time when Jack came at him from the side, Bitty braced himself to take the hit. Jack crashed into him, slamming him up against the boards. Bitty tried to push back but he froze up, hesitated too long, and ended up slipping and losing his balance barely saving himself from a painful faceplant to the ice. 

“Again.” Jack said, skating off towards the center off the ice.

Bitty got back against the boards and lined up a shot, trying not to think about where Jack was. Once again Jack crashed into him and Bitty’s skates tangled up as he flew through the air, jarring his elbow as he landed on his side on the ice. He winced as he went to stand up and Jack was suddenly there, offering him a hand. He pulled Bitty to his feet and they were standing close for a moment. Bitty looked up into Jack's stoic face, all sharp cheekbones, square jaw and sleepy eyes.  
“You all right there Bittle?” Jack questioned softly. He stood there for a long moment, still holding Bitty’s hand. Bitty could only nod and Jack released his hand skating off to set up the drill again.

They continued this way for another hour before Jack called a halt to it. Bitty had landed on the ice more often than not and had unintentionally avoided another dozen hits. He would definitely be sporting a few bruises and he didn’t feel like he’d made any progress today. It was just so hard to stop panicking and tensing up. Jack looked a little disappointed in him as they left the ice and Bitty looked away, not able to take the feeling of inadequacy in the face of his giant crush on the boy.

On the walk back to the haus Bitty chattered about the epikegster taking place that night and what he planned to cook. He was a little nervous around Jack after his realization yesterday, that he had somehow caught feelings for the taller man. He knew Jack was straight and nothing was going to come of it but that didn’t change the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. The longing for something more. The nervousness. Talking is what happened when Bitty was nervous, so talk he did. Jack was never much of a talker, unless the conversation was about hockey or he was chirping Bitty. But Bitty could talk enough for the both of them and Jack was clearly listening. He replied back to Bitty’s chirps about serving lots of protein at the party and smiled indulgently down at him while they walked. That smile was doing nothing to help the situation in his stomach. So Bitty took off to shower as soon as they re-entered the haus, feeling like he was escaping.

After getting cleaned up, Bitty headed back down to the kitchen to start breakfast for the boys. Chowder had requested chocolate chip pancakes the day before and Bitty just could not say no to that sweet sunshine boy. He finished up the pancakes along with a massive amount of scrambled eggs just as Ransom and Holster staggered into the kitchen yawning and leaning on each other. They sat down side by side at the table and picked up a discussion they had been having for a week. 

“But what about possession?” Ransom asked.

“Definitely not bro. If ghosts are even real, which they are not, they would definitely not possess you.” Holster picked up his whole pancake on his fork and gestured at Ransom with it, continuing “Ghosts are picky about who they possess. You’re not their type.”

Ransom turned quickly towards Holster, mouth full of eggs, hanging open “And why not?!” He asked indignantly.

“You’re too Booo-tiful!” Holster practically shouted and then began laughing loudly at his own terrible joke.

“Dude.” Ransom paused, an unreadable and intense look on his face. “I hope we’re friends until we die. And then we stay ghost friends and walk through walls together and scare the shit out of people.” Ransom said reverently. Holster grinned back at him.

“Y’all it is too early for these shenanigans and that joke was for 6 year olds.” Bitty chirped, setting a second plate of hot pancakes on the table. Just as Chowder, Nursey and Dex walked in the front door. Taking off their jackets, they came to sit at the table, grabbing plates and food like it was going to get stolen from them before they got any. 

“Chocolate Chip! YAY! Thanks Bitty!” Chowder enthused.

“It is way too warm out there for December.” Dex said as he poured syrup over his pancakes. 

“I totally agree. It is definitely not right. But it’s going to be great for the party tonight.” Nursey replied. Dex glared at Nursey, seeming displeased by his support

“I don’t know, it feels cold enough to me.” Chowder said around a bite.

“That’s because you’re from California, Chowder.” Dex said “You and Bitty probably stay cold up here, even in the summer.”

Jack chose that moment to walk into the kitchen and sit down, filling his plate with eggs and skipping the pancakes entirely. The boys joked and laughed around the table and Jack joined in, chirping Bitty about being cold natured in the face of northern winters. Then he looked up at Bitty where he was standing by the table, grabbing a pancake off the platter and holding it in his hand. “Thanks for breakfast, Bittle.” he said softly. His eyes looked almost crystalline blue in the morning light shining in through the kitchen window.

“Sure thing Jack.” came Bitty’s breathless reply. He couldn’t look away from Jack's gaze but was saved from saying or doing anything embarrassing as Holster barked out “ You guys want to hear a pun about ghosts?!”

Nursey “no”  
Jack “no”  
Dex “no”  
Bitty”no”  
Chowder”yes!”  
Ransom “no”  
Holster shouted “That’s the spirit!”

Loud groans and half hearted laughter followed Hoster’s awful pun. Bitty grabbed one more pancake off the stack as he fled the room “Oh Lord. I’m outta here. Y’all, please try not to kill everyone with your terrible humor. We’ve gotta at least make it until this party tonight!”

Bitty headed to his room, muttering to himself,as he turned the corner, about beautiful boys and how it was probably illegal for their eyes to be that blue when “Morning Bits!” came from right beside him.

“Shit!” Bitty startled, almost dropping his pancake.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” Shitty grinned and laughed as he came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and his glorious mustache, his long hair wrapped up in a second towel on top of his head.

“What is with you boys and your unfortunate puns today?” Bitty asked, exasperated. “Y’all are on one.”

“Bitty! My brah! It’s Friday! The semester is almost over! And tonight we are going to party like it’s Epikegster 2014! Because it IS Epikegster 2014. And it’s gonna be a beaut! We better fucking be on one!” He pulled Bitty into a one armed hug before jogging down the stairs still wearing nothing but a towel, shouting “Brahs! Is that pancakes I smell?!” Bitty was just glad Shitty didn’t seem to have overheard him talking to himself about Jack.

He reached his room and grabbed his phone. He stopped to check Twitter for 15 minutes. Johnson was being his usual obscure self, tweeting something about the hockey team mascot and the meaning behind the school name, made even stranger by the fact that he didn’t even GO here anymore, before he noticed the time. Crap. He was going to have to rush to make it to class on time. He grabbed his bag before heading back down the stairs and out the door. This time he left his jacket behind because it was really turning out to be an exceptionally warm day for December in Massachusetts. Heading to class across campus he noticed a guy riding his bike into the street. The guy wasn’t looking where he was going and collided with the side of a car falling off his bike entirely. The guy driving got out of his car and they started yelling at each other. 

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt. Bitty thought to himself. Glad that he didn’t own a bike and his truck was home in Georgia. At least he could avoid that kind of crash and burn while off the ice.  
First up he had Biology 101 at 9:00 AM and he WAS a little late, earning a glare from his professor. After that was American Studies at 10:30. Those were his only classes on Fridays. After that it was time to get the weekend started.

He tried his best to pay attention in class but his Biology class was all review and a bit above his head and in American Studies they were not talking about the history of food currently so to say the least, his attention was divided. He took the best notes he could and just hoped most of it wouldn’t be on the final. 

On the walk back he decided to pick up food for the night and he texted the SMH group text to see what they needed from the Murder stop and shop but the response was mostly enthusiastic nonsense so Bitty just decided to wing it. He rushed through the store and grabbed a bunch of stuff to make several kinds of pie, chips and the ingredients for a buffalo chicken dip his Momma had been telling him about from her and Coach’s super bowl party last year. The speakers overhead at the checkout were playing Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and Bitty took that as a good sign for the evening. Smiling and singing along, he swayed his hips to the beat as he carried the bags out the door and headed back towards the house. It was really amazing how much all the hockey conditioning had done for his arms. Last year he wouldn’t have been able to carry 8 bags of groceries all the way home from the murder stop and shop by himself without collapsing in a heap. Now he made it there without breaking a sweat. 

As he opened the door he heard Shitty shouting through a bullhorn. “Dex! You fix the downstairs toilet! We can’t have that out of order! Nursey, my brah, you’re on Tub Juice and condom duty. Gather all the ingredients and put them in the upstairs bathroom for later and then fill those baggies with condoms and hang them from the walls in every room of the house. As Lil Wayne says, safe sex is great sex! Ransom, Holster, you two bros get the beer pong and flip cup tables set up and get the music ready. Chowder, you stuff all that laundry and shit in the closet and shut the door. We do NOT want anyone passing out in the laundry again. The last chick that did that was a bedwetter!”

Shitty turned around and noticed Bitty coming in “Bitty! Just the man I needed to see!” and he put the bullhorn down on the table. “Jack and I are just about to head out to grab the kegs and I wanted to make sure you keep the frogs in line. Dex and Nursey are trying to start a fight about nothing and we don’t have time for their dramatics right now.”

“Sure thing, hun. Let me just get these groceries put away and start these pies and then I’ll check up on them.”

“Thanks Bits. You’re the best bro a bro could bro. We’ll be back in, like, 2 hours. JACKO!” He shouted up the stairs. “Let’s GO, mother fucker!” And he turned and walked out the door without a backward glance.

Jack came down the stairs and looked into the kitchen, bracing his hands against the doorframe as he leaned in “Bye Bittle. Try to keep the frogs from burning the haus down, eh?” He smiled at Bitty with his little half grin before following Shitty out the door. 

Bitty stared after him longingly for a minute before he started his music on the kitchen speaker dock and Beyonce started singing Still in Love. That totally worked for Bitty’s vibe so he started the oven to preheat and began laying out his ingredients, ready to start cooking epic pies for an epic party. 

Lost in his own baking world, he thought about his sudden realization from yesterday, standing in the kitchen with Jack, working on their Food and Culture projects together. Watching him absolutely screw up the lattice top on that pie while excitedly talking about his future hockey prospects Bitty had just...suddenly realized he felt more than friendship for the boy. He really cared about Jack. He was something special. A kind of light in the darkness. He was intense and exceptional. Bitty had been unable to look away. He felt like Jack really deserved to have good things come his way. He worked so hard. Had overcome so much. A smile from Jack was a gift and not that common of an occurrence, though Bitty had seen more smiles from him lately. Bitty just wanted him to be happy. And Bitty also just wanted to make out with him. He really wanted to make out with him. Was that too much to ask? I mean, think about those broad shoulders, those big capable hands, the way they might cradle Bitty’s face, slide down his neck and shoulders. His arms were so strong he could probably pick Bitty up entirely and push him up against the wall.... Lost in his thoughts, Bitty didn’t look up from his pies until Chowder popped into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge before saying cheerfully “Bye Bitty! I’m off to class! See you tonight for the party!”

“Oh shoot!” Bitty glanced at the clock display on the stove. “Is it that time already!?” Almost an hour had passed and he hadn’t check on the frogs. He shoved one of his completed pies in the oven and ran off to check on Dex and Nursey. He heard shouting from the bathroom and headed in that direction. As he came to the door he could hear Dex yelling at Nursey.

“Oh because you’re so trustworthy?! I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you, Nurse. And you're a huge brute, so it wouldn’t be far.”

“What is your problem Poindexter?” Nursey raised his voice, completely losing his chill. “I can’t think of anything I’ve ever done to you to make you think I can’t be trusted. Especially just to help you fix this damn toilet. I can follow instructions, you know? Just tell me what to hand you out of this damn box!”

“I don’t want you in here at all dude.” Dex scowled “Just go write some pretentious poetry and let me get some real work done. Work. Something you probably know nothing about.” Dex turned back to the open tank of the toilet and started working on the chain.

“Oh you are so full of it! You act like you are so much better than me. Like I can’t do anything worth doing! I Play Hockey! I have hands! I have actually broken a sweat before! You are the one who’s pretentious!”

“I’m pretentious? I’M PRETENTIOUS?! You are so fucking entitled that you wouldn’t know pretentious if it condescended to your face! Just because I’m white you think I act like I’m superior but I have to work for everything-”

“This has nothing to do with my race or my wealth. This is you being a total asshole to me for no fucking rea-”

“BOYS!” Bitty yelled to interrupt and then lowered his voice “If y’all don’t stop the LAX bros are probably going to call the cops about a dang domestic disturbance. Now, I don’t know what’s put a bee in y’all’s bonnets but I think both of you need to cool it and we can talk like civilized adults!”

“No. I’m cool enough.” Nursey snapped while glaring at Dex “Thanks Bitty. I think you and I are the only civilized adults here. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and leave you to your preparations since I obviously can’t be trusted.” Nursey stormed out of the bathroom brushing past Bitty and out the door.

“Wow Dex” Bitty looked back to where the redhead stood with his hands fisted at his sides.”I think that could have been handled better. What is with you and Nursey? I thought y’all were finally starting to get along instead of rubbin each other the wrong way all the time. Why is it that you’re suddenly convinced Derek Nurse can’t be trusted?”

“This is bullshit, Bitty. He doesn’t get to act better than me. Not after…” Dex hesitates “Listen I wasn’t trying to like, eavesdrop or whatever but, Nurse was in Chowder’s room at the dorms early this morning and I overheard him on the phone with someone and, well, It sounds like he was paying someone to write his term papers for him.”

“What?” Bitty is honestly stunned.

“Yeah, The way he was talking, this is something he’s done before. And the way he’s always going on about being chill, I get that he doesn’t give a fuck about stuff but it is just messed up that he’s just using his money to coast through school. I don’t care that he’s rich, but I do care that he thinks he doesn’t have to do the work like the rest of us. It’s just...completely dishonest!”

Bitty had a hard time believing that Nursey would do that. He seemed really invested in school. Taking quite a few classes that he was interested in. But it wasn’t like Dex to lie or make things up either. And he could understand why something like that would really bother Dex, since he was such a stickler for honesty and doing your part. 

Bitty decided he would try to either talk to Nursey or find out more some other way. This was definitely something to worry about. If Nursey really was plagiarizing or paying someone else to do the work for him, he could get kicked off the team. Maybe he should talk to Jack about it? It seemed like something the Captain of the team should know about. Bitty resolved to do something before the end of the day. Either talk to Nursey or talk to Jack.

That decided, he turned back to Dex who was still fuming quietly to himself as he was elbow deep in the toilet tank. “Ok, well Dex, I’ll see what I can find out ok? Just leave it to me.” Dex looked up and muttered “Thanks Bitty.” before getting back to work. Bitty was about to turn away from Dex and head back into the kitchen when he smelled something burning.

“My pie!” He gasped before darting through the living room into the kitchen. He yanked open the oven and found his apple pie a blackened ruin. In his rush to check on the frogs he’d forgotten to set a timer. Bitty pulled the ruined pie from the oven, setting it on the counter next to the two other uncooked pies. After he put those two pies in the oven, being sure to set a timer this time, he stood leaning his palms on the counter, staring mournfully at the apple pie. Apple was Jack's favorite. And Bitty wanted Jack to have pie so he would think of Bitty while he was eating it. But he really didn’t have the cash to throw away on a second set of ingredients. Oh well, it’s no use crying over burned pie, Bitty thought to himself, before unceremoniously dropping the pie, tin and all, into the trashcan. Bitty moved on to making the dip, setting up the drink station, getting the beer put in the fridge and making sure to take the blueberry and chocolate fudge brownie pie out of the oven when the timer went off.

There was still cleaning and a few other things to do before the party tonight, so Bitty busied himself with those mundane tasks, trying not to get lost in thoughts of Jack for the rest of the day.

When Jack and Shitty returned with the kegs, the boys all got them set up on the back deck. Kegs were no longer allowed indoors after the incident during the St. Patrick's day party of 2013. Shitty then showed Bitty how to make tub juice in the upstairs bathroom that connected Shitty’s room to Jack’s. After that there wasn’t much more that could be done so Bitty went to take a nap in his room and wait for the fun to start.

_X_

 

Bitty could feel the slow baseline of A$AP Rocky rapping about a mouth full of gold. He had light flashing in his eyes from the makeshift dance floor in the center of the room where the awful green couch had been shoved aside to make room for the mass of swaying bodies. He felt a breeze on his warm face, coming in through where the front door was propped open, people streaming in and out of the house. And he could smell weed mingling with sweat, cheap beer and chocolate pie. Lardo stood to the side of the dance floor, passing out retro sunglasses and laurel or flower crowns to the team. She already had on a pair of her own sunglasses and she laughed loudly as Ransom and Holster jostled to grab matching pairs.

Bitty leaned against the wall next to Jack. Jack who had, for once, come out of his room during a party! Jack who seemed to want to stay next to Bitty when he could be talking to anyone. Tall, pretty Jack who was wearing a too tight Samwell Hockey T-shirt and looking good enough to eat. Those shoulders...praise Jesus, Bitty thought and leaned his head back, accidentally brushed his hair against a baggie of condoms pinned to the wall. Bitty batted it aside to look up at Jack.

“You were fixin to hide away in your room?! During what could very well be the last ridiculous kegster of your Samwell career?” Bitty had to almost yell to be heard. He grinned at Jack, who smiled back down at him. They were both holding the requisite red solo cups full of cheap keg beer.

“Well, you know, something always goes wrong during these parties. And I think Ransom and Holster invited half the colleges in Boston.” Jack, gesturing with his free hand, gets a mildly serious look on his face but it still feels like a chirp when he says “Make sure you lock your door, Bittle. Last time we had one of these, Shitty had a guy get sick in his room. Oh boy-” Jack continued animatedly telling Bitty horror stories of kegsters past and their disastrous results while Bitty gazed up at him and tried to keep the hearts out of his eyes.

“Good lord, I’m tweeting that!” Bitty laughed in response to Jack's story about turning a fire extinguisher on the football team at the previous kegster.”I’m surprise you’re not chirping me for having my nose buried in my phone.” Bitty said as he typed out a quick tweet.

“Well, if it’s out, we should take a …selfie. Or something, together” Jack hesitated over the word selfie, clearly not having used the word before. His French Canadian accent got more pronounced as he got deeper into his second beer of the night.

“There it is!” Bitty almost laughed, seeing the comment as the chirp he expected.

“I’m serious!” Jack said lightly, a smile that was almost bright glanced across his face. Bitty's heart stuttered. ”You know, like” and here he made air quotes “‘Bitty’s first Kegster’….You could put it on your blog. I mean, I don’t get selfies but you’ve--” 

“I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it myself.” And unfamiliar voice cut Jack off mid sentence. “Jack Zimmerman. At a party. Taking a selfie.”

Bitty looked up to find Kent Parson, captain of the Las Vegas Aces, winner of the Stanley cup and all around hockey golden boy, smirking at them from the edge of the dance floor. Bitty felt his jaw drop a little as he took in the sight of Kent freaking Parson, standing in his haus, looking both comfortable as all get out and completely out of place at the same time. He was dressed casually enough, but everything about him seemed almost too good to be true. His watch a little too expensive, his shirt too nice, even his cornflax blonde hair sticking out the front of his backwards aces snap back seemed a little too perfect to fit in at a Samwell Men’s Hockey kegster. God almighty he sure was good lookin’. They say first impressions are everything and Kent Parson was making a good first impression...very good. Bitty took out his phone a tweeted “Lord, I’m getting starstruck!” As Jack said “Kent.” in a flat voice that didn’t betray any emotion. That made Bitty look back up at Jack in concern. Bitty knew that Jack and Kent had a long history, having played in the Q together and gone up for the NHL draft together, but Jack didn’t exactly sound happy to see his old friend.

Kent clearly didn’t hear the coldness in Jack's voice. He asked “Didja miss me?” Looking smug and pleased with himself, a half grin on his face.

Before Jack could respond Chowder and Farmer popped up beside Kent, Awestruck looks on both of their faces. “Oh my gosh!” Chowder exclaimed. “You’re Kent Parson!”

“Last time I checked, yeah.” Kent replied, a bemused look in his eye, that smirk never leaving his mouth. “Want a selfie?”

“Oh wow! Yes! That would be swaesome!” Chowder said with excitement as Farmer spoke up beside him. “Sweet! This is so cool!” She said.

Bitty watched them take a selfie, Their star-gazing helping to bring Bitty back to reality a bit. After all Kent was just a person right? But when Kent was finished with Farmer and Chowder, he looked over at Bitty and asked “How about you kid? Want a selfie?”

“Sure!” Bitty spoke excitedly, choosing to ignore that someone only a couple years his senior just called him a kid. “Would you mind if I post it on my Twitter? I tweet a bunch and my followers would be so excited!”

“Yeah go ahead. Got a lot of followers who like Hockey?” Kent asked as they lined up the shot, grinning.

“Oh sure” Bitty said after snapping the photo. “I mean at least half my tweets are about hockey considering about half my time is spent playing or practicing. You bet your bottom they’ll recognize you!” It’s a good picture, Kent's eyes seemed blue grey in the light coming from the kitchen. Bitty quickly posted the photo and glanced back up at Kent who looked almost puzzled. 

“You play Hockey?” He asked, his brow furrowed like he was surprised to hear that. It certainly wasn’t the first time Bitty had elicited that reaction.

Bitty laughed and put a little sass in his response “Now Mr. Parson, I know I don’t look the part but you better believe I play. You know you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Bitty winked. “I’m fast as hell on the ice. I’m on Jack’s line a lot of the time.” 

“Huh.” Kent seemed at a loss. Looking at Bitty intensely.

Mentioning Jack, Bitty looked around and realized Jack must have snuck off at some point while he was distracted by Kent. Dang, Bitty had really wanted to spend some more time talking to him. Maybe he just went to get another beer.

Lardo came up at that moment and dragged Kent away, yelling something about the beer pong re-match of the century. And Bitty let them go. He wandered around the party, checking everywhere he could think of, getting caught up in a conversation with Ransom and Holster for a while. They explained Kent and Jack’s history a little more thoroughly and Bitty was honestly more confused than ever by Jack's disappearance. Didn’t he want to stay and see his friend? Bitty ended up on the front porch with Shitty, who was doling out tub Juice in nothing but a sleeveless jean jacket and a pair of faded, too tight jeans. 

“Shitty! Have you seen Jack?” Bitty asked as he stuck his head out the front door.

“Ah, poor guy probably didn’t want to get caught up in the selfie mill Kent Parson started.” Shitty sounded slightly annoyed.

“Oh. Oh, I-- I sure hope he comes back. Kent Parson said he drove down JUST to see Jack before his game tomorrow.”

“Listen, Bits, you should know Jack can get pretty jealous okay?” Shitty starts, looking strangely serious all of a sudden. Bitty walked closer so he could hear Shitty without straining over the loud music pumping out the front door. “Like the last time Parson dropped by--yeah it was after he won the FUCKING STANLEY CUP” Shitty start gesticulating wildly. “but it wasn’t like he had his CALDER under his arm. Parson’s a modest bro. And the way Jack acted...Brah.” Shitty shook his head unable to voice what he was thinking. “It freaked me out! It was kinda like how Jack used to treat you.” 

Bitty didn’t like to be reminded of some of the harsh things Jack had said to him during his frog year. Jack had been prone to taking his bitterness, disappointment and jealousy out on Bitty and it had done nothing to improve Bitty’s slightly fragile state his first year away from home. But Jack treated him nothing like that now. Bitty and Jack were close. In fact he counted Jack as one of his best, if not his very best, friends. Bitty didn’t like to think what it would feel like to be on the receiving end of Jack’s coldness again.

“And I fucking hate saying it, so that’s between you and me, alright?” Shitty followed up, glancing over at where Bitty was looking down at his phone. Bitty wasn’t sure what to say so he just stared at his phone for a moment longer.

“Bits…” Shitty started, sounding like he was about to start lecturing.

“I swear I wasn’t sharing that!” Bitty cut Shitty off. He sighed. “Listen, I’m gonna put this thing in my room before I tweet anything stupid. If you see Jack...tell him to come find me okay?”

“Sure Bits and lay off that fucking tub juice. It’s magically malicious.”

Bitty turned away just as Lardo walked out the door. He high fived her as he passed her, grinning at her popped collar and hilarious novelty shades and she walked up to Shitty talking about having crushed Kent at flip cup. She then informed Shitty that someone had once again been sick in his room. She cackled loudly as Shitty stomped past Bitty to deal with that situation. Bitty headed into the kitchen to put his cup down and to make sure the dip didn’t need refreshing before he wove his way through the middle of the dance floor shaking his hips a bit as Beyonce sang Drunk In Love. That seemed entirely appropriate. He stayed for a moment, letting the crowd grind against him for the time being. Just feeling the music and the sexy fun of the crowd enjoying themselves. He then ducked under the yellow police tape pinned up at the bottom of the stairwell and climbed up to his room to lock his phone up. As he came around the corner in the hallway where his bedroom door stood directly across from Jack’s he heard muffled voices. So that’s where Jack had gone! Bitty hesitated, wondering who he was talking to, when he recognized Kent’s voice.

“...you have no clue?”

“I mean, it could be Montreal, it could be LA okay? I don’t know.” Jack sounded a little overwhelmed.

“...What about Las Vegas?” Kent responded.

“I..I don’t know okay?” Bitty could hear quiet shuffling sounds though the closed door. “Parse…”

A stuttering sigh had Bitty pausing as he tried to extract his room key from his pocket.

“--Kenny, I can’t do this.”

“Jack come on.” Kent reply was a desperate whisper.

“No I--...uhh.”

There was another sound of shuffling, fabric against fabric.

“Kenny--”Jack sounded louder now. His voice returning from the whisper it had fallen into. Bitty had his key in his hand now but he was lost in the conversation, not realizing that he stood frozen just outside Jack's door. 

“Zimms, just fucking stop thinking for once and listen to me.” Kent pushed. “I’ll tell the GMs you’re on board and they can free up cap space. Then you can be DONE with this shitty team. You and me--”

“Get out.” Jack cut him off, his voice like ice.

“--Jack.” Kent seemed taken aback, suddenly realizing that he’d made a mistake.

“You can’t--you don’t come to my fucking school unannounced--”

“Because you shut me out!”

“--and corner me in my room--”

“I’m trying to help!”

“--And expect me to do whatever you want!”

“Fuck! Jack! What do you want me to say?! That I miss you?!....I miss you, ok?” Kent’s voice slowed, his volume lowered and he sounded suddenly vulnerable. “I miss you.”

Jack paused “...you always say that.”

Bitty’s hand was clutching his jacket over his chest, his key hanging loosely forgotten in his other hand. He was having trouble following what he was hearing but, it sounded like too intimate a conversation for something just between two friends. And Bitty realized in a rush of competing emotions that Jack and Kent had probably been something more than friends. 

“...Huh.” Now it was Kent’s turn to sound cold, stunned. “Well, shit. Ok.” Kent paused. “...You know what Zimmerman? You think you’re too fucked up to care about? That you’re not good enough? Everyone already knows what you are but it’s people like me who still care.”

“Shutup.” Jack's voice sounded small, like a kicked puppy.

Kent was clearly just getting started “You’re scared everyone else is going to find out you’re worthless, right? Oh don’t worry, just give it a few seasons, Jack. Trust me.” The venom in his voice was acidic and it suddenly brought Bitty back to reality. He realized he was listening in to something he shouldn’t be. Something he was not a part of. He was intruding on Jack’s privacy and taking away his choice in letting Bitty in. Suddenly Bitty was desperate to get into his room. He started to turn away.

“...G-get out of my room.” Jack sounded broken.

Bitty tried to leave before someone did come into the hallway but as he turned, his loose grip on his key slipped and he fumbled it. It hit the floor with a quiet clink which was drowned out as Kent raised his voice again “Fine. Shut me out again.”

Jack's voice almost trembled “And stay-- stay away from my team.”

“Why? Afraid I’ll tell them something?” Kent spit out.

“Leave Parse!” Jack seemed furious.

Bitty dropped to his knees in front of Jack's door, grabbing his key quickly and starting to stand again, frantic to get into his room when the door swung open, light spilling into the dim hallway and spotlighting Bitty in the doorway. Bitty looked up through his lashes, horrified to have been listening and mortified at being caught. Kent and Jack towered over Bitty. Kent slightly in front of Jack. Kent’s face was closed off, his eyes a blank grey blue, but a little surprise did show through the icy facade at finding Bitty crouched there in the hallway. Jack however seemed more than surprised. The look on his face could only be described as devastated.

Kent walked around Bitty and seemed to try to regroup. He cleared his throat. “Hey. Well. Call me if you reconsider or whatever.” He said to Jack without looking at him, adjusting his hat as he turned away. “I’m sure you’ll make your dad proud.” He said with finality. Kent walked around the corner without a backwards glance. Bitty looked up at Jack from where he was still on his knees, watching as Jack's eyes followed Kent down the hallway. Jack’s whole body was shaking.

Bitty stood slowly and his hand raised, starting to reach out for Jack's arm “...Jack..” Bitty started, not sure what he could say in this moment. But before he could get any further Jack turned quickly away, into his room and slammed the door. It sounded loud in the quiet hallway, so distant from the sounds of laughter and music downstairs.

Bitty was left standing alone in the hallway once again. His heart was beating loudly and he froze for a moment, wondering if he should try to get Jack to talk about what just happened. If he should try to be there for him. But it seemed presumptuous of him. Jack would never have wanted Bitty to hear that, to know what just happened. So it was unlikely he’d want Bitty to intrude on him now. He leaned his forehead against Jack’s door for a moment, placing his palm flat against the cool wood, wishing he knew how to help Jack. Wishing he knew the words to say, he turned away, unlocked his own door and slipped quietly into his room. He walked slowly over to his desk chair and sat down. His stomach felt like it was full of lead. 

He sat for several minutes, warring with himself before he hopped up out of his chair. He started to walk across the hall again but doubled back. Ugh. Should he try to talk to Jack or not? He definitely didn’t want to make things worse but Jack had looked so upset. Was it really Bitty’s place to help with that? What if Jack felt like he was intruding. What if Jack was angry with him for listening in. He was pacing quickly from one side of his room to the other, debating what to do when his phone started buzzing from his pocket. Thinking it might be Jack, Bitty hastily slid it out of his pocket, fumbling to answer. Seeing it was Lardo calling made Bitty pause, a crease of confusion forming between his eyebrows. Wasn’t Lardo just downstairs?

He answered and could hear the background of the party louder through the phone than through the floor. “What’s up sugar?”

“Bitty, we have a problem and I think we need your help. Where are you? Are you still here?” Lardo asked, sounding harried. 

“Sure am. Just upstairs” Bitty quickly responded, worried. It wasn’t like Lardo to need help with anything. 

“Ok then get down here quick, please. We’re in the back.”

Not bothering to ask who “we” was, Bitty just hung up and headed back down the stairs, shoving his phone unforgotten back into his pocket. What in Sam Hill could be wrong now? It seemed like everything was going wrong today. Mama always said that drama don’t just walk into your life, you either make it or go lookin for it. But Bitty was thinking maybe he could disagree with his mama for once. Murphy’s law was in full effect. He descended the stairs two at a time. Quickly shoving through the crowd to reach the back door which lead out to the keg, the back deck and the yard.

As he walked out the door he could hear voices raising to a crescendo. It looked like Dex and Nursey were back at it. This time Ransom and Holster were standing between the two of them on the grassy lawn, holding them back. Probably smart as it looked as if they might come to blows. Lardo was off to the side and several party goers gathered around as well, trying to get a glimpse of the action. Since Lardo called him he headed quickly over to stand beside her and figure out what was going on but just as he reached her side it seemed like the argument came to a head. 

“Fuck you Nurse!” Dex shouted around the side of Holster, shoving past him to get to Nursey. At that moment, Nursey pushed past Ransom as well and before the older D-men could get a handle on the situation, Dex and Nursey were swinging at each other. It happened so fast it was hard to say who threw the first punch. But moments later they were grappling, one trying to shove the other to the ground, trying to gain dominance over the other. Before the fight got any worse, Ransom and Holster reached in and separated the two brawlers, both now looking much worse for the wear. Nurse had blood pouring from right above his eyebrow and would definitely be sporting a black eye over the next week. Dex’s lip was busted and his teeth were bloody and savage looking. 

Bitty stepped quickly forward before any further damage could be done. “That’s it!’ He shouted, and everyone outside stopped to watch him. “I don’t know what on earth has got into y’all today but I would like to point out we are not on the ice and this is no place for that kind of bull. Both of y’all are gonna have to talk to Jack tomorrow but for now, you’re cut off. Nursey, I’ll call you a cab to take you back to your place. Dex, the dorms are just down the road, one of the boys will walk you home. And I don’t want to hear anything else about this tonight. Everyone is too drunk and I reckon the cops will get called if they haven’t been already.” Bitty paused to let his words sink in and turned to Holster.

“Can you and Rans walk with Dex?” He asked a bit more quietly.

“Chyeah Bitty. No probs. Come on Ransey, let’s get some air.” He practically lifted Dex up, walking him around the side of the house and off to the dorms, Ransom hurrying to walk beside him.

Turning to the small crowd Bitty said “Show’s over folks, either get your butts back on the dance floor or clear out.” and the walked over to where Nursey was standing looking dazed and still angry. He reached out and gently touched Nursey on the shoulder, not wanting to set him off again. He shouldn’t have worried. Nursey just looked down at Bitty, seeming lost.

“What happened Nurse?” Bitty asked.

“I’m not actually sure man.” Nursey looked off towards where Dex had disappeared, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Well, let’s get you home.” Bitty walked with Nursey into the kitchen and ordered him a Lyft. That task complete he set about cleaning the blood off Nursey’s face and getting him patched up. Just as he finished butterfly bandaging Nursey’s face, the Lyft pulled up and Nursey left. The party was starting to wind down at this point and quite a few people were wandering off. Bitty looked around the house.

He wasn’t nearly drunk and maybe now was a good time to start cleaning. Lord knows it wasn’t going to be any fun in the morning. However Bitty suddenly felt too tired to even think about it. In fact, climbing the stairs seemed like an epic journey he didn’t want to undertake so he just walked out the front door and plopped down on the steps, letting the crowd disperse past him. He pulled out his phone and started to tweet “Dear baby Jesus, I been rode hard and put away wet.” But before he posted it he thought about how it sounded and decided the connotation might make it seem like he had more fun tonight that the truth warranted, so he just posted a little frowny face instead. 

Scrolling down through his twitter feed he paused over another tweet sent by John Johnson from earlier this morning. That boy was so abstract Bitty almost never knew what he was talking about. But this time he read through the tweet three or four times. John had tweeted “Hey wellies, when things aren’t going well, wish on a wishing well. Wishing you all well!”

Bitty was suddenly struck with a memory of something John had said to him when he gave Bitty dibs on his room right before he graduated. Sounding mysterious as usual, Johnson had pulled Bitty aside and told him the story of their team’s mascot, the wellies. Bitty had always wondered at the strange mascot and when Bitty mentioned it John had explained that they got the name from the wishing well on the west side of campus. Apparently the well had actually been on the land before they even started constructing the campus and the eccentric founders had decided to build the first few structures around the well, leaving it as a sort of attraction on campus. It still stood and John said that people told stories that it really granted wishes, if you were desperate enough. And then he’d said something about Bitty needing the knowledge to move the narrative along later in the story. What a weirdo.

Bitty felt pretty desperate. In fact, he suddenly didn’t feel tired at all. He was filled with an almost frantic energy. He got up and started to walk swiftly off towards the west side of campus but paused before he got out of the front yard. What was he doing? He thought to himself. It was pretty foolish to hope that a well could fix all the things that had gone wrong with this day. But at the same time, what could it really hurt? After all, he wasn’t drunk and he suddenly wasn’t tired. And getting away from the Haus for a bit actually sounding like the best medicine. So before he could second guess himself, he started walking again. 

Walking through the cool dark night, Bitty reflected on what a crappy day it really had been. Everything went wrong and Bitty wished he could have just seen some of it coming. The burned pie, the disaster that was Jack and Kent, the Dex and Nursey fiasco, and even checking practice and class had only been so-so. He regretted not talking to Nursey sooner, to find out the truth of what Dex had accused. He regretted not knocking on Jack’s door to see if he wanted to talk or if he just needed a hug, a friend. He regretted not chasing after Kent and giving him a piece of his mind. His feelings for Jack were still out of control and now knowing that Jack might not even be completely straight, as he had always thought (And that was something he would need to think more on later), wasn’t much comfort in the face of what Jack might be thinking about him eavesdropping or how Jack was dealing with his...issues ..with Kent. Oh poor Jack. He had just seemed so unhappy. How could Kent have said those horrible things to him? It was so hard for Jack already. Hard for him to open up. Hard for him to relax. He had so much pressure on him. This was not going to help.

Before Bitty even realized it, he was walking into the courtyard between two lecture halls where the Samwell Old Well stood. It was surrounded by a low stone wall with jasmine creeping over it. The vines were bare and sinister looking without their summer foliage. Bitty skirted around the wall and crept up to the well, feeling a hush over the clearing that almost seemed heavy. He reached into his pocket, feeling around for some change he knew was still in there from his trip to the store earlier this morning. Lord that felt like a lifetime ago. He sorted through the change and then stood holding a single penny in the palm of his hand. He looked up from the penny and stared down into the deep blackness at the bottom of the well. Not sure how to phrase his wish exactly, Bitty started by laughing at himself.

“Well, this is silly.” He said aloud. “I guess I wanna wish for a do-over but that seems like too much to ask for.” Bitty paused and then started again “I want to wish for the day to end happy, for me. But I’d also like it to end happy for Jack. In fact, I just want Jack to be happy. I wish I could do something to make him happy more often. And I wish I could undo that awful conversation Kent and Jack had. That was just heartbreaking. Poor Jack. Really, poor Kent too. Maybe I should wish for his happiness as well because it sure seems like he needs it.” Bitty sighed. “I wish I could just make everything alright.” He whispered finally before tossing his penny into the darkness. He listened but he couldn’t hear if the penny hit dry ground, water or if it just fell forever. Staring down into the dark, Bitty felt pretty disappointed. Which was dumb. What did he think was going to happen? Still, he walked all the way out here and that felt really...anticlimactic. 

Bitty stared down into the well for another few moments before turning with a shuffle and starting back towards the haus. His exhaustion returned with a vengeance and it was all that he could do to keep upright with his eyes open as he made his way home though the damp grass. Walking up the front steps of the haus he saw that it was all quiet now. Bitty walked in and trudged in the dark, up the stairs to his room. After getting undressed, he flopped down onto his bed, dejected and just as tired as he’d ever been in his life. He shoved his face into his pillow, thinking he should maybe get back up to plug in his phone. But before he could move to get it done, he was drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you guys liked the first chapter. I know it was WAY TOO LONG but I just have no control over it. I have no idea when I might update this again as it is a work in progress and I write sometimes, sporadically in between raising a kid, working full time, reading everything I can get my hands on and having a busy social life. Also, I only recently developed an interest in hockey, yes, all because of this dang web comic, so anything I say about hockey in this and future chapters is complete BS. If you've got something to say, lay it on me. I have no idea what I'm doing.


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